Health Economics—Theory, Insights, and Industry Studies

Santerre (finance and healthcare management, U. of Connecticut) and Neun (academic affairs, Antioch U. New England) supply undergraduate and graduate students with a textbook on health economics that explains basic concepts, the role of government, specific health care industries, and health insurance reform. This edition has updated treatment of the new health care reform act, discussion of the health care system in Switzerland and competition between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, a rewritten chapter on the private health insurance industry to reflect studies on market power, more on the monopsony power of insurers, comparison of the US health care system with other countries in terms of the three-legged stool of medicine and the US system in terms of the supply and demand model of a health economy, information on the proposed single-payer system in Vermont, and a new appendix on the Grossman model of the demand for health, in addition to updated statistics, added empirical studies, and rewritten and condensed chapters. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)